Truth and Consequences
by Traye
Summary: Sequel to Plan B.  Santana deals with the consequences of accepting and admitting her feelings for Brittany.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I wrote this and debated about posting it because I'm not thrilled with it. Usually when I write I know why my characters behave the way they do even if I don't put it in the story. Santana's mother however is unusually cruel and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. So she comes off as just some lunatic crazy person. It drove me so crazy it made me unhappy with the story. I finally decided to post it because I hoped somebody would enjoy it. But if you don't I totally get it. In the end I decided she's just like Heath Ledger's Joker. She just wants to pop little kids ballons, flatten the tires on ambulances, and watch the world burn. On a side note it does explain Santana's mean streak, I figured she got it honestly.**

In hindsight her nonchalant shrugs and dismissive responses may have tipped her hand. If not, her smirk definitely gave her away. When her mother began ranting and raving Santana sat quietly and smiled. When her mother ordered her to hand over her car keys she laughed out loud.

Her mother had done exactly as she predicted. She'd taken away her car, confiscated her computer, barred Brittany from the house and asked for her to hand over her cell phone. Luckily Santana had shoved her cell phone down the front of her pants and told her mother she'd lost it. Her mother would do a lot of things but reaching down the front of her pants wasn't one of them. Santana knew this and she must have smiled because the woman suddenly became enraged.

"Do you think this is funny? You're throwing your life away." Her mother had gone on and on about her ruining her life by being with Brittany. The fact that she'd taken Brittany to Prom strictly against her mother's wishes surely wasn't going to win her any popularity contests at home either. Despite her mom's fury and rage the woman had given her a sorta compliment by admitting she'd been outsmarted when Santana had Blain Warbler pretend to be her date. When she threw it in her mothers face that Blaine was actually gay the woman seemed genuinely let down.

Santana smirked, she had to admit her mother looked completely crazy yelling and screaming about how being with Brittany was going to ruin her. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. It turned out to be a big mistake. Huge. Santana knew if she was Darth Vader her mother was Emperor Palpatine. Mama Lopez's exploits made Santana's look like amateur hour by comparison. Over the years she'd done some dastardly things. She'd even seen her mother get a woman arrested for shoplifting when the woman grabbed the last tube of her mom's favorite lipstick and wouldn't fork it over. Mama Lopez had shoved a seventy dollar bottle of perfume in the woman's purse and laughed when the security buzzer went off on her way out the door.

When Santana saw her mother's angry scowl fade only to be replaced by a confident smile she knew her goose was cooked. A sudden rush of panic over came her and she realized the mistake she'd made. Her mother had taken away things Santana had predicted without much trouble. The one thing her mother had always been able to do was surprise her. She hadn't accounted for that. The next words out of her mouth were like a kick to the side of the head.

"Since you're lesbiana now, you don't need all the nice stuff I put in your closet. Girls like you should be wearing flannel and motorcycle boots si?"

That's all she said before she disappeared upstairs. If Santana had half a brain in her head she would have ran upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom. Instead she sat on the sofa like a bump on a log. Her mother was upstairs for what seemed like a year. When she finally came strutting back down the stairs she was grinning proudly.

"What happened to the boy with the haircut? The delinquent?" The woman asked.

Santana knew she meant Puck. "He's got a girlfriend." She answered not sure how else to respond. Her mind was racing on how she could get herself out of this. She knew what her mother had done. She'd taken her clothes. It was a contingency Santana didn't plan for. It was a decision so cruel and off the wall she'd have never anticipated it.

Her mother scoffed at the idea of Puck having a girlfriend. "You mean to tell me you couldn't even hold on to a high school boy? Who is this girlfriend? And don't tell me it's Quinn. If you can't steal a boy from a teenage mother you sure as hell aren't my daughter."

"Nobody. A girl named Lauren." Santana confessed.

"Lauren? The big girl from your glee club?" The woman asked.

Santana didn't get a chance to respond before her mother began to shake her head. "You lost a boy to her?" She began to laugh. A mocking laugh that shouldn't have bothered Santana but did.

"I tried to fight her." She said in a lame attempt to defend her self respect.

"Tried, as in she kicked your ass?" Her mother said beginning to laugh harder. "Not only did she steal your boyfriend but she kicked your ass too. Maybe she'd appreciate learning all the stuff I've tried to teach you that you threw away. She at least seems to have some modicum of self respect. If I can get the damn weight off her maybe I'll take her under my wing. Motherhood won't be a complete waste of my time after all."

Santana went up to her room locked her door and cried. Usually she didn't let her mother get under her skin. The woman was a sadist, she enjoyed inflicting emotional pain. Unfortunately for Santana she had no escape. She had to deal with the woman and despite her tough girl demeanor her mother always knew how to hurt her feelings.

It took a few hours but her mother finally came pounding on her bedroom door. "Hija. Open the door I have your things."

Santana practically jumped out of bed. Was her mother finally growing a conscience? Taking her clothes was cruel and unusual punishment. Maybe the woman wasn't so bad after all. She pulled the door open almost letting a smile creep across her face. When she saw the woman standing before her with a pile of clothes in her hands she almost let herself get excited.

"Here you go hija. If you want to be a lesbiana it's my job as a mother to help you be the best." It sounded like a comment from a caring mother but the woman was smiling. Smiling was always bad. When Santana looked at the pile of clothes in the woman's hands she saw a pile of brand new flannel shirts and jeans. "I bought you some boots too. Combat boots. You can look like a soldier."

Instead of waiting for Santana to take the clothes her mother dumped them on the floor at her feet. She pushed passed Santana and disappeared into her bathroom. She emerged a few seconds later with Santana's full makeup kit.

"What are you doing now? You've already taken everything?" Santana asked, her voice cracking under the emotional strain.

"You don't need this anymore. Make up is for girls. I can get you some chewing tobacco if you want though." She said as she disappeared down the hallway. Santana slammed her door and locked it. She couldn't do anything but cry.

Later that night…

Santana felt the warm body slide next to her and wrap arms around her. She tightened her already shut eyes and pretended things were as they were yesterday. Yesterday was awesome. How could they go so bad in one day?

"I'm so proud of you. I promise you I won't let you go through this alone." She heard Brittany whisper into her ear.

It was comforting having her here. Even though she knew her mother would explode if she found out Brittany had snuck into the house. Despite that it was nice to know she hadn't been abandoned. Not that she expected Brittany to abandon her. This was all her idea. She had to step up.

"If my mother finds you here she'll kill me." Santana warned.

"I don't care. She can't keep me away from you. Your all mine now."

Santana buried her head into Brittany's chest and began to sob. "Thanks for coming. I really needed you today."

"You don't have to thank me, I love you. Tell me what happened. I want to hear everything. Don't hold it in."

In the morning…

"Don't blame me. You're the lesbiana. If the kids make fun of you maybe it's because you deserve it."

Deserve it? Santana asked herself. Was she serious? This wasn't a choice she'd made. This was just who she was. Didn't she see that?

"How can you say that? You don't think I tried to be what you wanted me to be? If I could just do what you want my life would be so much easier." Santana said. "I don't want you to hate me. I want you to love me. It's all I ever wanted. I don't deserve this."

Her mother sighed. "I do love you hija. I just want you to expect more from yourself and if humiliating you in public accomplishes that goal then be prepared to be laughed at."

As her mother's Mercedes Benz pulled into the parking lot Santana took a deep breath. She felt like a lumberjack dressed in the boots and flannel. How would this play out? Normally this wouldn't be a problem, she was back on the Cheerios after all. Unfortunately Friday after school, before prom Coach Sylvester confiscated all of the Cheerios uniforms and burned them in garbage cans in the faculty parking lot.

Without the comfort of the uniform she was forced to wear her own clothes to school and her mother had assured that she had nothing decent to wear. Not only that but it was the first time since seventh grade she hadn't worn some form of makeup to school.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, she told herself. Be tough. Be Santana, HBIC.

"You gotta be kidding me." She heard her mother utter.

Santana opened her eyes as her mother's car slowed to a stop in front of the school. Standing outside were a half a dozen girls dressed in flannel and boots. None of them were wearing makeup. Brittany was conspicuously missing but Quinn was standing front and center.

Her mother turned to her with a glare and for the first time since doling out this punishment lost her confident smirk. "How the hell did you pull this off?"

The sight almost made Santana misty eyed. Brittany had done this. She'd promised her that she wasn't alone and she'd come through. God did she love her so much right now. If everybody worth a damn dressed this way nobody would say a thing about her mother's stab at humiliating her.

"Minions mom. You really should get some. I run this place. If you're hoping to beat me you really should come up with something a little less pitiful. If I dressed in a paper sack half the school would wear one the next day. I actually expected better from you." Saying the words were the hardest thing she'd ever done. Her mother had no doubt heard her cry herself to sleep last night. The crazy bitch probably laughed on the other side of the door.

Santana couldn't be sure but she thought she saw her mother smile. "Get out. I'll see you after school."


	2. Chapter 2

Santana was surprised at how easy it was to avoid ridicule. Brittany had gone above and beyond normal girlfriend duty by getting the girls from Cheerio's to dress down for the day. Every member of the squad was dressed like Paul Bunyan and Santana couldn't have been happier. Well, almost all of them. Two girls hadn't bothered to participate and Santana watched with restrained excitement as Quinn ripped them a new one.

Say what you wanted about Quinn Fabray but she ruled with an iron fist. Santana watched in awe as the girl went down the line finding at least one fault with every girl. She'd skipped her and Brittany of course and after the verbal tongue lashing she turned to Santana with an annoyed glare that Santana wasn't sure wasn't meant for her.

"It's all yours captain." She said finding her way to Santana's right side.

Santana didn't have the heart to ridicule the girls today. After the verbal beating she'd taken from her mother yesterday she was mentally drained. Her bitchy reserves were dangerously low.

"Just go to class." Was all she had the heart to say.

"We do this again tomorrow until we learn to do it right. Now the rest of you can thank Jessica and Ashley for another day of this." Quinn said as the girls began to disperse and head off to class. Santana heard moans and groans as they began to walk away and decided to rub it in further.

"Since you want to complain about it, make it two days." She said as the girls quickly disappeared around the corner. Once the girls had gone Santana took the opportunity to thank Quinn for her support. They'd made a deal to rejoin Cheerio's with Santana as Captain and Quinn as her number two. Quinn also promised to stand by her side and support her through any of the backlash coming out at school would cause her. In return Quinn had the right to refuse any rule Santana issued. Seeing her dressed up this way this morning was a total shock. Quinn was nothing if not Ms. Perfect. She hated having even a single hair out of place. After three years Santana had never even seen the girl without makeup on until today.

"Thanks for this Quinn. I appreciate it. It means a lot."

Quinn didn't blink, her face was stone cold and emotionless. "Don't mention it." She said before walking away.

Santana fought back the urge to say something bitchy. Quinn had done her a huge solid and the last thing she needed was a break in the chain. The girl could stage a mutiny at any time. And with all the crap her mother was putting her through Santana didn't have the juice these days to exercise total control. Hell, she couldn't even leave home without her mothers permission. She felt like a six year old.

When she felt Brittany's soft hands link in her own she finally took the time to give the girl a proper thank you.

"Britt I just want to say thanks for this. It means the world to me."

Brittany flashed the thousand watt smile that still sent shivers down Santana's spine and pulled her hands up to her lips and kissed it gently.

"I thought you were going to be mad at me for leaving last night. But I had to leave. I had to do something to help you."

Santana gave her a quick look over. Brittany was still the sexiest girl in school even with flannel and no makeup. "I can never be mad at you. I'm just trying to think of ways to make this up to you. You totally saved my butt today."

Brittany's smile fell away and Santana found herself wondering if she'd said something wrong. "San you always look out for me and I've never felt safer than when I'm with you. But you need to know that I'll keep you safe too. Everything you tell me, everything we share together, your heart, your soul, it's all safe with me."

Santana ignored the few students straggling down the hallway and leaned into Brittany and gave her quick peck on the lips. Butterflies erupted in her stomach, the same butterflies she'd felt when they kissed for the first time years ago.

"We better get to class." Brittany said pulling away quickly.

Santana nodded, knowing that she wanted nothing more than to skip class today and hang out with Britt. Unfortunately so close to the end of the school year she couldn't afford to ditch. With finals coming up she had to go to class. Failing out of the eleventh grade was not an option.

Terror ran through her mind. Finals. Failing. Britt needs help studying for finals. Santana made a point of spending a few hours with Brittany everyday during finals week getting the girl ready for her exams. Brittany would never bring it up with everything Santana had going on these past few days. She'd want to avoid sounding selfish and self centered. Britt was totally sweet and giving, too giving. She was risking failing her classes to keep Santana's stress level down. Santana had to figure out a way to help her. Her mother wouldn't let her help Britt. She wouldn't care if Britt failed out of school or not. If Santana was going to help her she'd have to do it on her own. She was going to have to do this the hard way.

In Glee club…..

Rachel Berry grabbed Santana by the arm and pulled her quickly to the corner of the room. "Are you okay? You've had me worried sick." The diva proclaimed.

Under normal circumstances Santana would make a comment about the girls man-hands or call her something witty. Today however was an exception, Rachel had been instrumental in her accomplishing her goals these past few weeks. True she'd taken pictures of her and Brittany at the prom and given them to her mother, effectively outing her to her parents. Even still, that was Santana's idea, Berry had been totally against it from the beginning. She'd done it as a favor and Santana knew she owed the girl one. Humiliating her in front of the glee club wasn't a cool move. Still she didn't want her getting too comfortable with their new 'sort of' friendship.

"Aw, were you worried about me? How about you come over later and hang out. Since my mother won't let Brittany come by maybe you and me can have a sleep over."

Rachel frowned. "Santana that isn't funny. None of this is funny."

Before Santana had a chance to calm her down Puck stepped into the room grinning from ear to ear.

"Santana Lopez as I live and breathe. I heard it but I didn't believe it. When I heard all the Cheerio's had gone all butch today I immediately thought of you. Not even you can make that look hot."

Finn joined in grinning like the giant idiot he was sending a wave of anger through Santana. "Yeah, you should get used to dressing like that. Maybe buy yourself a motorcycle. You'd look good on a Harley." Leave it to Finn to screw up a perfectly good chance to kick somebody while they were down.

"Shut up. Stop making fun of her." Santana heard from the doorway. The voice was familiar, extremely familiar, but she'd never heard the tone. At least not in public. Brittany never showed her fangs in public. There were times, plenty of times actually, that she'd given Santana a private chewing out but she'd never seen her do it where anyone could see or hear.

"Don't you dare make fun of her." She continued. Santana could practically hear the fury in her voice and so did everyone else. The room went deadly silent. Puck's jaw was practically on the floor and Finn's face was beet red.

Santana shook loose from Rachel's grip and met Brittany in the doorway. She looked like she was about to shoot laser beams from her eyeballs.

"Britt, it's okay. It's not a big deal."

"No." Brittany said, her voice carrying. "No, it's not okay. They can't make fun of you. Not today."

She grabbed the blonde's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Britt it's okay, they don't know."

Santana watched as the girl's anger began to fade. "I'm not going to let anybody be mean to you. Not today. If I have to punch somebody in the kneecaps I will."

"The kneecaps. That sounds like it'll hurt Britt." Santana said with a bit of smile that caused Brittany to return the gesture.

"I can kick butt too. I was a purple belt in Karate before I became a pacifist."

Santana nodded. "I remember. But you don't have to kick anybody's butt. We made a deal back in eight grade that I'd do all our ass kicking remember?"

"Brittany knows Karate?" Puck asked from his spot in the back of the class. He seemed surprised. When were these idiots gonna learn Santana asked herself. Britt rocked.

"Of course she does. Just because she doesn't fight doesn't mean she doesn't know how." Quinn said with a smirk.

"What's going on Santana? What don't we know?" Mr. Schue asked from his perch at the piano. Great. She didn't even see him there. Now 'Gel Vesterson' was gonna get all touchy feely.

"Nothing." She answered quickly. What was this Oprah?

"Her mother took all her clothes, and her makeup, and her car, and her computer." Quinn said calmly. She was sitting in her usual seat filing her fingernails. Tattle tale.

Mr. Schue's face went white. "What? Why?"

"For being a lesbian." Quinn stated as if they should have already known this.

"Seriously? She did that. Who would do something like that to their own kid?" Finn asked with skepticism.

"Uh, have you meet her mother? She would do this and worse if she could." Puck answered.

Quinn laughed. "Apparently he hasn't." She looked up from her nails and spoke directly to Mr. Schue. "Picture Santana twenty years older, twice as beautiful and ten times as evil. She's far and away the meanest person I've ever met. And that includes my dad who threw me out of the house for getting pregnant."

Santana watched Mr. Schue's face morph with pity.

"She really took all your clothes and your makeup?" Rachel asked.

Great, Santana thought to herself, now she was going to have to deal with Rachel's guilty conscience.

"Is that why you're wearing this get-up?" Finn asked.

"Her mother's making her wear it. So she'll look like a lesbian." Quinn added her attention back on her nails. "These are the only clothes she has now. Flannel shirts and combat boots."

"Damn. And I thought you were a bitch." Mercedes said.

Brittany got angry again. "Don't say stuff like that. Not today. Everybody be nice to Santana."

Mr. Schue rose from his seat at the piano and nodded his head. "Everybody Brittany's right. Santana needs a day off from our judgment and ridicule."

"And don't tell anybody. Nobody knows but us. She has to find a way to fix it." Brittany added. Her confidence in Santana's ability to handle anything always gave her a swell of pride. Brittany treated her like she could move mountains. That confidence was infectious. It gave Santana motivation to not let her down. She'd have to come up with something to end this thing with her mother. But first things first. She had to get Brittany ready for finals.

**I struggled with this for a while but I hope it's not too bad. My confidence in this story is all screwed up but the the reviews and the alerts push me past any doubts I may have. And I promise next chapter more Brittany and Santana not to mention Britt's face off with Ms. Lopez.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: This chapter temporarily switches to Brittany's POV so we can follow the story and actually see Santana's mother's motivations. It did two things, advanced the story, and helped me make sense of why Mrs. Lopez is so hard on her daughter. It brought human qualities to her which I felt were sorely lacking.**

Santana had wracked her brain all day looking for a way to help Brittany though finals week. Brittany for all her strengths had never been much of a student. She'd struggled through almost all her classes for as long as they'd known each other. School work hadn't been that important to Brittany. School had always been a place to see your friends everyday. She even hated summer vacation.

Santana knew there was no way in hell she was going to be able to sneak out of the house to help tutor Britt. The only exception was to get Brittany into the house. The only way to do this was to sneak the girl in while her mother was asleep.

She could see plenty of problems with that. The most important being getting Britt out of the house every night. They usually rotated sneaking out so their parents wouldn't catch on. If Britt made a point of sneaking out and got caught her parents would know she was at my house. Their first move would probably be to call my mother to have some sort of pow wow. Britt's parents were progressive and believed everything could be solved with a reasonable conversation.

"Santana can I speak with you for a brief moment?"

Rachel. Rachel was turning out to be a very loyal but annoying friend. She wasn't going to let this thing go. She was going to keep hounding her to pour out her heart or whatever she expected to happen between them.

"Always a got a moment for you hot stuff." Santana said, hoping to throw Rachel off her game.

Rachel didn't back down an inch. "This is serious Santana. Are you going to be okay? If I had any idea that your mother was going to punish you this way I never would have agreed to do this. You're bravery is only eclipsed by your stupidity. I'm sure Brittany doesn't want this for you."

"Britt's fine. She stepped up." Santana told her. Rachel was freaking out over nothing.

Rachel nodded. "I know she did. And I appreciate what she did but this whole thing is sort of her fault so she sort of had to."

Santana had said the same thing to herself earlier today but didn't want Rachel to know that. "What are you talking about Berry?"

"I want to help you. Over the course of the past few weeks I think we've grown to be pretty good friends. I want to help you and make sure your okay. This afternoon I received a call from your mother asking if I'd get close to you and report back to her. She offered me a considerable donation for my college fund."

Her mom had bribed Rachel? Really, how deliciously devious of her. "What does she want to know.?"

"Everything."

"Well a girl's gotta get to college right? Call her and tell her you'll take her up on it." Santana said with a smile.

Rachel looked around the hallway as if she were James Bond. "I already did. I figured you'd want me to. I could feed her the information you want her to know. Like a double agent."

Berry was going to be extremely useful. "Now your getting it Rachel. Who knew all this time we've been spending together was rubbing off on you?"

"Santana I'm going to help you but after this is all over I'm going to ask you for a favor and I want your word you're going to do it. I don't want you to back out later."

"What is it?" Santana asked.

Rachel shrugged. "Not now. I'll unveil the mechanics of my plans at a later date."

Santana laughed easily to herself. She was learning. "Okay Berry you're on. Help me now for a favor to be named at a later date."

_Brittany POV:_

Brittany found Santana's mother sitting behind the wheel of her fancy Mercedes listening to the radio. Over the years she'd grown to like and respect the woman but that was before she'd fell in love with Santana. Mrs. Lopez would never welcome her into her home like she did before. Her whole life was completely screwed up now.

She wanted to kick herself for being impulsive. Santana had said this would happen and Santana was usually right. She said that her mother would find out and she'd keep them apart. She'd been so upset about Santana keeping them a secret she hadn't thought through what she wanted Santana to do. It was a dumb idea, it had ruined everything.

"Mrs. Lopez can I talk to you?" Brittany asked. Mrs. Lopez had been glaring at her through the window but hadn't bothered to roll it down. She was staring at Brittany through the glass and for the first time since she'd known the woman she was afraid. The look in her eyes wasn't disgust like she expected. It was anger.

"Please." She pleaded.

Mrs. Lopez rolled her eyes and cracked the window just a bit.

"What?" She asked. There was a coldness in her tone that Brittany wasn't used to. The woman had always been so nice to her before. Now she was treating her like she treated Santana. With cold indifference.

"I'm sorry." Brittany offered up. It was all she could think to say. This conversation was another thing she hadn't thought through.

Mrs. Lopez turned away from her and turned down her radio. "So am I. I brought you into my home, treated you better than I treated my own daughter. And this is how you pay me back? You completely ruin her."

"She's not ruined." Brittany said softly. Mrs. Lopez had the same look in her eye that Santana gave people she wanted to beat up. If she looked at somebody that way things usually ended with them getting punched.

"Oh so she didn't just throw all of my plans for her away?" The door to the woman's car crept open and Brittany considered running. Was she going to get beat up by Santana's mother. She could Karate the woman but Santana would be upset. As much as she said she didn't, she loved her mom.

The car door pinged as Mrs. Lopez stood facing her. She was a little taller than Santana and despite being super older was still pretty. Not as pretty as Santana, Quinn was crazy, but she was still smoking hot.

"She didn't do it on purpose." Brittany defended her girlfriend.

"Oh I know. I know it's not her fault. Despite my efforts to toughen her up she's got a heart underneath those fake tits. This is your fault. You did this. You made her weak."

Brittany was sure she'd get beat up now. "Me. How is it my fault?"

"Just your being around worked against everything I did for her. Her whole life I tried to make her understand that you only get a small window to set yourself up. School work, a college degree, all that stuff is fine but life doesn't have to be that hard when you look like this. She could have married up, set herself up with the nice house and the nice car and if she wanted to go to college she could have done it on her husband's dime." She began to shake her head. "High school was supposed to be practice. How to get a boy, how to steal a boy, how keep him wanting more."

"She knows all that stuff." Brittany said.

"Of course she does because I made sure she did. But you just wouldn't leave it alone would you? I mean what more did you want? She cared about you, you knew that. I let you guys have your little fun behind closed doors. You kept it secret so I didn't see the need to intervene. I thought you guys understood but apparently you didn't."

Brittany was dumbfounded. "You knew?"

Mrs. Lopez rolled her eyes. "Of course I knew. I'm not stupid. You guys sleep together almost every night. What the hell else would be going on?"

"So why are you so mad at her?" Brittany asked. It seemed like a good question but she could tell Mrs. Lopez didn't think so.

"Because love is one thing. The real world is another. What is she gonna do now Brittany? What are her options?"

Brittany shrugged. "I don't know."

Mrs. Lopez nodded. "Right. You don't know. Neither does she. So let me tell you what they are. She goes to college and then to medical school, or law school. Racks up a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in debt. Works sixty hours a week for the next twenty five or thirty years and then retires." She looked at her car, door open and still pinging. "She won't get to enjoy any of her hard work. And let's say you guys do stay together you'll never see her. You'll be home alone most of the time. Wouldn't it have been better if she'd been available to you whenever you wanted her. When her husbands out working his ass off she'd be home, probably with you."

Brittany's head was starting to hurt. She knew what Mrs. Lopez was saying was wrong but it was making a lot of sense. If San got a fancy important job she'd never see her. She'd meet fancy people and go fancy places. They'd talk about smart people stuff. Museums, Wall Street, Politics. She may even meet some smart fancy lady and share sweet lady kisses with her.

"Your starting to get it now aren't you. She just threw both your lives away. Santana loves you Brittany. If she married up she'd have made sure you did the same. Now neither of you can. And exactly what are you qualified to do again? My daughter's practically done all your homework since the fourth grade. You'll have to find a job and you'll barely be a high school graduate. If you want to be with Santana you'll have to work so she can finish school. Four years of college and three or four years of law school or medical school. That's a long time to flip hamburgers."

_Santana POV:_

Santana stepped out of the school in time to see Brittany walking away from her mother's car. Brittany was noticeably upset. Her head was down and she wasn't watching where she was walking. What the hell had that evil bitch said to her?

"Britt?" Santana called. Brittany turned to wave but didn't stop or otherwise acknowledge her. What the hell? All she got was a wave now.

"Santana let's go, I have a nail appointment." Santana noticed the word I. Mondays they'd always gotten their nails done together. Since Santana was in fifth grade. It was a family tradition. Nails on Monday, hair on Wednesday.

Instead of fighting about it she chose to ask about Brittany. "What did you say to her? Why are you picking on her? This is about me right?"

Her mother shrugged smiling. The smile almost hurt to see. She'd done something. She'd done something to Brittany. That wasn't fair. Brittany had always been off limits.

"She came to me Santana. I was minding my own business." Her mother said. She was telling the truth Santana knew but still something seemed off.

"What did you say to her Mami?"

Her mother shrugged innocently. "Nothing we just talked about her future, about your future."

Okay that wouldn't send Brittany off like she'd just lost Lord Tubbington. "And?"

"And nothing. What could I have possibly said to her Santana. All I did was talk about the future."

"Mami Brittany never just waves me off like that."

Her mother climbed into the car and shut the door behind her. "Maybe she's having second thoughts. Just in case I think I may want to give your clothes back. You may be back on the market pretty soon. We'll try this again. With a boy this time."

There was something about the way she made the statement that almost sent Santana over the edge. She'd said something and done something the evil hag. "Well we'll see about that." Santana finally said. Her mother didn't flinch. She just buckled her seatbelt with the confident grin of somebody who had all the answers.


	4. Chapter 4

Santana walked into school determined to track down Brittany. Her mother had returned her clothes last night as promised but Santana was still decked out in her lumberjack outfit. Today to her absolute shock and amazement several other girls, girls not members of the Cheerio's, were walking around dressed in jeans and flannel shirts. She wanted to laugh when her mother dropped her off and rolled her eyes when she saw the students dressed down in what she had deemed demeaning attire.

Brittany had been MIA since yesterday. She'd sent Santana a text claiming to be studying for finals and assured the Latina she'd see her tomorrow at school. In the years they'd known each other Brittany had never let school work get in the way of them hanging out. The fact that she'd been blown off by her blonde girlfriend twice in twenty four hours was unsettling.

She wasn't sure what was going on but she knew her mother was behind it whatever it was. Mother Dearest had said something to Britt yesterday and ever since the girl had been acting strange. If she didn't find out what it was soon she'd simply go nuts with worry. Picking on Britt wasn't something she usually let slide. However she knew better than to go toe to toe with her mother.

Santana didn't find Brittany in the hall but she did find Quinn. The blonde Cheerio was leaning against her locker staring off into space, her eyes fixated on something down the hallway. Santana tried to follow the girl's eyes but there was too much activity in the hallway.

"Hey Q, you seen Britt?" Santana asked.

Quinn snapped out of her funk and nodded. "She's around."

"Where?"

Quinn shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she got lost."

Britt liked to joke about getting lost in the hallways and all the idiots at school actually took her serious. Quinn knew Britt and understood her sense of humor so she knew there was no chance of the girl actually getting lost in a school she'd been in for three years. Either she was totally distracted or was telling Santana to fuck off.

"Thanks." Santana said coldly. She was going to have do something about Q and her attitude. She was going through the motions but deep down her heart wasn't in things. She was planning some kind of move. The last thing she needed to get mixed up in some feud right now.

"Your welcome." Quinn said. She sounded genuine. Okay not bitchy, simply distracted.

"What's going on with you? Are you okay?" Santana asked.

The question seemed to offend Quinn. "Of course, why?"

Santana smiled. "Sure. You're a-okay. Your just staring out into space. Moody, spacey, quiet. Hell I haven't even heard you harass Berry in days."

Quinn let a smile cross her face. "Don't worry I won't pick on your mistress."

Before Santana had a chance to respond Quinn was walking away. Her first instinct was to chase after her but she spotted Brittany walking down the hall. She had what looked like a suitcase and was wheeling it behind her. On the tip of her nose was a cute pair of glasses.

Santana pushed her way through the hall and watched as she struggled with the bag. "Britt what the hell?" She asked as she pushed past a freshman girl, spilling her books onto the floor.

"San hey." She said. She sounded excited. Her excitement was infectious, it brought a smile to Santana's face and right away she realized she hadn't been blowing her off. She was distracted with something. She was wearing jeans and flannel but over the flannel she was wearing one of her father's sport coats. What was she up to?

"Britt what's with the suitcase and suit jacket. You skipping town on me?" Santana asked.

Britt's face scrunched up. "Suitcase?"

Santana's eyes shifted to the bag the blonde was lugging around and she saw realization reach Britt's eyes instantly. "Oh. This is my briefcase, I just didn't have a real one."

Briefcase? "Okay well why do you need a briefcase?"

"So I can get a job when high school is over. When you graduate and go to college I'll have to make the money until you can get a good job."

Santana's mind raced. Mama. Is that what she was hassling Brittany about yesterday? Is that what had the girl so up in arms.

"Britt don't worry about that right now. That's years away."

Britt wasn't convinced. "I ruined the plan Santana. I ruined the plan and now I have to pick up the slack so you don't have to worry about your future. If you want to go to doctor school somebody has to pay the bills and your mom said it has to be me."

Damnit Mama, Santana said to herself. "Britt we'll work it out."

"She said you'll have to pay a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for college. I only have six hundred and seventy nine in my checking account. I talked to Ms. Pillsbury and she said that she'll help me find out what the best job for me is. Did you know that the school keeps track of all the grades you get? Ms. Pillsbury told me that I'm doing surprisingly well."

What a bitch. Good thing Britt didn't understand back handed compliments.

"Of course you're doing good. I'm not going to let you fail." Santana told her. Santana paid careful attention to what classes Brittany was taking. She was in average classes and with Santana helping her with her homework she usually scored A's on all her take home work. Test time was another story, Brittany was usually intimidated by the pressure situation and more often than not failed. Most of her teachers did their best to work with her, the others never let her fall below a C average.

"Santana I can take care of us." Brittany said confidently. "I'll get a job and take care of us until you finish school."

"Britt I've always taken care of you right? Don't worry about this. It's not important right now. We'll figure out the perfect career for you. Something that you love and will have fun doing. I'll make the money."

Brittany's head began to sag. "You don't think I can do it."

Oh Damn. "No Britt of course you can. You can do whatever you want. You just don't have to. I'm thinking about going to law school after college. If I can get into Harvard or Yale or something we'll be home free."

Brittany lifted her head and became defiant. "I'm gonna help. I ruined the plan and now I have to help. If I help you and show you I can take care of stuff too you won't get stressed out and you won't leave."

Leave? Where the hell was she going? "Where am I going Brittany?"

"I don't know. Your mom said that I ruined your future so I have to fix it. She said your back is gonna get tired."

Her back? Santana was usually good at speaking Brittany but the girl had her completely lost. "Brittany come with me to the gym. We're gonna sit down and talk about this." Santana reached out and grabbed Brittany's 'briefcase'. It felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.

"Brittany what the hell is in here?"

"Encyclopedia's. I figure no matter what job I get I can just look up how to do it in the encyclopedia. This way I don't have to make hamburgers."

Santana smiled. Damn is she so cute. "That's brilliant babe. You are so smart. I'd have never thought of that."

Brittany smiled. "I know right. It just came to me last night like BOOM!"

Santana started to lug the heavy bag down the hall. "Come on baby, let me tell you all the ways you can help us get ready for college."

Santana knew the idea of going to college had never entered into Brittany's mind. She was going to have to change that. There was tons of stuff Brittany could do. Dancing. Hell she could be a cheerleading coach. If Coach Sylvester could do it so could Brittany. She knew her blonde bombshell wouldn't end up running a Fortune 500 company but that didn't mean she had to resort to working at McDonalds. She was going to have to fix it so Brittany was never alone with her mother again.

Later in Glee Club….

"I realize the timing of my request is premature but I need some new clothes." Rachel was saying.

New clothes. Finally. "Awesome Berry. All we're gonna need is a huge garbage can to burn all the crap in your closet and like four or five grand. We'll get you squared away no problem." Santana said.

Rachel's face went white. "No, not for everyday. Just an outfit or two. Something leather."

Leather? What the hell was she joining a biker gang or something. "Why leather?"

Rachel tensed up. She didn't want to say. "It's private."

Santana sighed. "Fine. What are you looking for like a skirt or something? A leather mini?"

"I was thinking Sandy in Grease." Rachel replied.

Of course she'd choose something from a musical. It was Berry after all. "Fine. Give me a few hours and I'll tell you where to go and what to buy. I'm still grounded and my mom isn't letting me out of the house. So I'll give you a detailed list of where to go and what to get. You just need to follow the directions."

Rachel nodded and wrapped two excited arms around her neck. "Thank you so much Santana. Your help is greatly appreciated."

"Is this about a boy?"

Rachel pulled away, her excited smile fading quickly. "No. It's not about a boy."

"Okay. But if I find out it's for Frankenteen or something I'm going to be pissed off."

"It's not." Rachel said taking a few steps away. "I promise to tell you when the time is right."

"You better." Santana said as Rachel walked away and found her seat. From the corner of her eye she saw Brittany come into the room. She was still lugging around her suitcase and was still decked out in her glasses and jacket.

Her mother was evil. She'd filled Brittany's head with all sorts of doubts about the future. She'd said Brittany would eventually be left behind unless she figured out a way to make them both lots of money. She'd even gone so far as to suggest Brittany think about becoming a stripper. The poor girl had been stressed out about it all day.

"San I still don't get it." Brittany said lightly.

Brittany had been trying to figure out the 'back' comment all day. Santana had even explained it twice but the girl still wasn't picking up on it. She thought too literally. Her mother had said Santana's back would eventually get tired from carrying Brittany, but the blonde didn't quite understand what it meant.

"Don't worry about it sweetie I'll explain it later." Santana said.

"Does it hurt now? Do you want me to massage it for you?" Britt said.

That sounded like fun but not here, not in front of the Glee club. Especially not in front of Puckerman. He'd get too excited and they'd never hear the end of it. He could turn the simplest most innocent thing into something from Skinemax.

Across the room Santana could see Quinn staring at them. She looked lost in thought again. What was on her mind? She wasn't going to ask again but her curiosity was piqued. When she finished getting square with Berry she was going to have to look into things.


	5. Chapter 5

**To those of you who've been following this, sorry for the long wait between postings. I just can't wrap my mind around Santana's mom. It bugged me so much I had to take a long break from the story. However here we are again and I decided I won't abandon the story. I'll stick with it. Forgive me if the chapter is sub-par though I'm working through some creative issues!**

Santana wasn't exactly sure when she'd become friends with Rachel Berry. It had just happened one day. One day she was teasing Rachel with flirtations and the next they were doing each other favors.

"Do you want to tell me what this is about finally?" Santana asked as Rachel modeled her sleazy leather outfit. As much as she wanted to deny it the girl looked pretty hot. "And is picking out this outfit the favor you wanted me to do for you?"

Rachel did a half assed turn that would have made Cindy Crawford throw up. The girl had no sense of sexy. It was too bad because she had the tools.

"Sort of, actually I need to get the attention of someone and as much confidence as I have in my self in other areas, this particular endeavor is causing me a slight bit of confusion and self doubt."

Anybody but Berry would have gotten smacked across the head for taking so many words to say they were lame but Santana didn't mind it surprisingly. Berry was notorious for using a paragraph to say something that could be explained with a few simple words.

"Just go be sexy. Believe it or not you can do it. Remember, you're the girl, you have what he wants so you call the shots and set the pace. He's a boy so he's dumb, just be yourself. If you've made it to this point you're halfway home. Just turn on the sexy."

Rachel didn't seem convinced. Actually she looked confused, as if she had a mouthful of questions she was biting back.

"Fine. I'll do it your way," she finally said.

"I thought you said it wasn't about Finn."

"It's not." Rachel insisted.

"Well who? Spill it, I'm getting bored." She asked.

It wasn't true. She had been extremely lonely in the house. Her mom had practically banned Brittany from the house and Rachel was the first visitor she'd had in a week. Brittany managed to sneak over and spend the night with her a few times but Santana didn't count that. Rachel, through her supposed sneakiness and deceitfulness, had managed to get her mother's full support. She'd willingly let Rachel into the house before she went out to do a round of shopping.

"Oh stop it already. I do wish to tell you but not today. Not now. Now be a friend and wish me luck."

The thought that she was leaving already bummed Santana out. She didn't mind company, not even Berry.

"Good luck." Santana said as she watched Rachel leave.

With Rachel gone and Brittany off playing career woman she decided to call Quinn. The girl had been acting stranger than normal these past few days and Santana was sure her friend could use a bit of attention. She made herself a cup of tea and chopped an apple for a snack and planted herself on the sofa.

Quinn answered on the first ring.

"Hey." Santana said doing her best to sound casual.

"Santana?" Quinn asked, she was clearly expecting somebody else. There was a slight hint of disappointment in her tone. "What's going on, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I was just checking in." Santana offered up.

The line was silent for a moment and Santana heard what she swore was knocking. "Listen, Santana, can I call you later. I have a thing I have to do right now, but I'll call you back in a few hours."

A thing she had to do? Evasive much?

"Big date?" Santana said with a sigh.

"Something like that. Why are you being so nosy all of a sudden? I'll call you later." Quinn told her.

"Fine. Go ahead. Tell Finnocence I said hi." If Rachel wasn't getting busy with Shrek, surely Quinn was.

Quinn snickered on the other end of the phone. "I'll tell him when I see him," she said before the line went dead.

Weirdo. Yeah Quinn surely needs to be medicated, she said to herself.

Later...

"How long are you going to do this Santana? Of all the stupid plans you can come up with. Why are you holding on to this stupid little childish fairytale?"

Santana bit her lip and did her best to muster up her courage. Stay strong. She had to stay strong. She had been holding her own with her mother for the past few days and despite the woman's bitchy exterior she actually appeared to be impressed with some of Santana's actions. Unfortunately her mother wasn't one to take defeat well. In her quest to humble her daughter she'd gone after what she perceived to be the weak link. Brittany. She'd succeeded in filling the girl's head with all sorts of craziness that Santana hadn't completely talked her down from. Even worse Brittany had refused help studying this week. She was intent on passing her finals on her own. This caused Santana massive angina but she had to let the girl spread her wings, she couldn't coddle her and ruin her confidence.

"Mom I'm gay. I like girls. It's not some kind of game I'm playing with you. I want to be with Brittany." Santana urged her.

Her mother laughed as if Santana were making a joke of some kind. "Do you think life is about what makes you happy? Just do what I say and your life will be so much easier."

"No. I'm not giving up Brittany to be some baby machine for some guy." The thought of it was making her sick to her stomach.

"I'll tell you what. If you stop this crazy lesbian talk I'll let you pretend the last two weeks didn't happen. I'll pretend like I don't know you and Brittany are sleeping together. She can keep sneaking into your bedroom at night and you can sneak out to her place. It'll be just like old times."

Santana was confused. Was this some kind of trick? What was this woman up to? Was she willing to let them go back to the way they were? Was that even possible? Could she really just forget it had all happened.

"I don't know." She said with hesitation. "I have to talk to Brittany."

"Why? Nothing will change you just have to stop telling people you're a lesbian. If anybody asks tell them it was a phase."

A phase. That'll work perfectly. Hey remember that phase I went through when I wanted have sex with chicks? Yeah, I grew out of that. Didn't take. It was the stupidest explanation in the world.

"Just let me talk to Brittany."

The next day...

"My mom says we can go back to how things were before. She said if I stop telling people that I'm a lesbian she'll forget the past two weeks happened."

Brittany looked confused. "How?"

It was a good question. "I'm not sure. It sounds like a good deal, but with my mother it has to be a trick."

Brittany nodded and shoved her books in her locker. She was wearing another one of her father's blazers and to Santana's utter shock she saw a few girls wearing blazers too. If Brittany wore a Burka to school half the girls would copy.

"It sounds like a trick. You're mom is a trickster Santana. I don't know what we should do. I said we should tell everybody and it turned out to be a mistake. I just don't want to make another mistake."

Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Brittany admitting I love you wasn't a mistake. I knew it was going to be hard, I knew my mother would make trouble. We just have to be strong and come up with a plan."

"We should talk to Quinn. She's sneaky like your mother is. She'll help us." Brittany said with a confidence Santana didn't understand. Quinn had no reason to help them. She's already done so much already, she surely wouldn't want to get more involved.

"Quinn's been acting weird, she's got her own stuff going on."

Brittany shrugged. "She's okay. She's just dealing with something private."

Interesting. "Do you know what?"

Brittany nodded. "Yes but I can't say. I promised her I wouldn't tell anybody."

We'll see how long that holds up, Santana told herself. She'd weasel the information out of Brittany in no time. As for now she had to decide what to do about her mother. Trying to figure out what her mother was thinking was damn near impossible. The woman was on a whole different wave length than most people. Mama Lopez was beyond devious, and always scheming.

"Ooh, look. Quinn's here." Brittany said with a smile that after all these years still made Santana's heart melt. Her enthusiasm was infectious and Santana found herself smiling in response.

"Ladies." Quinn said with a smile of her own. Her smile had been missing these past few days. At first Santana wrongly assumed it had something to do with her having to wear jeans and flannel to school the past few days. That didn't appear to be the case because the girl was once again wearing jeans and Santana's mother had given her back her wardrobe yesterday.

"What is it casual Thursday?" Santana asked.

Quinn smirked. "I'm doing great Santana how are you doing?"

"Jeans. Again."

"She looks hot in jeans." Brittany tossed out with a casualness that widened Quinn's already large smile.

Santana simply shrugged, not willing to give the girl too much credit. "She looks okay in jeans. Although I think she looks better in her wholesome virginal garb." She thought it over for a moment then arched an eyebrow. "Well semi-virginal."

Surprisingly Quinn let the comment roll off her back. "Not even you can ruin this wonderful day Santana."

Looks like her downward spiral is over Santana figured. "Looks like your big secret date went well. I swear to god if one more person keeps a secret from me I'm going to punch somebody. Between you and Berry I'm swear I feel like a leper. I may as well join the chess team I'm so out of the loop."

Quinn's face blushed red.

"Santana's mother said we can forget the past few weeks and go back to the way things were before. Sleepovers and all. Santana just has to stop saying she's a lesbian." Brittany said abruptly snatching Santana's attention away from Quinn's reddening face.

Quinn laughed. "God do I love your mom. I wish my mom was that sneaky."

Santana extended her arms, confused. "What the hell is she up to? It sound like a good deal to me, why shouldn't I take it?"

Quinn bit back her laughter but held her smile. "Say okay if you want but it's a trap. Just say no. No good will come from going along with it."

Santana sighed with frustration. "What is it? I don't see the plan."

"Trust me, you don't want to know what it is." She looked over at Brittany and gave her a quick wink. "I gotta go get ready for my English Lit final, I'll see you girls later." She didn't even give them a chance to try to stop her before she wandered off whistling a tune that Santana knew but couldn't place.


End file.
